Hélie Denoix de Saint Marc

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Hélie Denoix de Saint Marc (short: Hélie de Saint Marc; born in Bordeaux, 11 February 1922) is a French former resistant, then military officer, and was notorious for participating in the Generals' Putsch against Charles de Gaulle.

Hélie de Saint Marc joined the resistance at the age of 19. Caught in July 1943, he was sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp.

After the Second World War, he joined the French Foreign Legion and was sent to the First Indochina War. From 1948 to 1950 he led partisan groups on the Vietnam-Chinese border to defend themselves against the insurgents from china. After a 4-5 month leave in Algheria and France, in 1951 he was given command of a company (2nd CIPLE) in the 2nd BEP (Batallion of Legion Parachutists) which consisted of Vietnamese volunteers. He was named captain on 1 October 1950. In May 1953 he again returned to France on leave.

Whilst in France he was redirected to spend time with the 11th Choc who are the action arm of SDECE. He returned to Vietnam in May 1954 to join the 1st BEP.

In Algeria, during the Algerian war of independence, at the head of the 1st foreign paratroop regiment, he agreed to support the April 1961 "Generals' Putsch" against president Charles de Gaulle. The putschists loathed de Gaulle's acceptance of Algerian independence. As the putsch failed, he was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was freed on Christmas 1966.